Sunday, May 29, 2016

Here's a little more from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Last week Jada discovered that she has to stay among the living until she finds and stops the man who murdered her. As you might expect, Jada's not too happy about having to be "some kind of psycho zombie chick," but here's why she's obligated to do it.

"You had a verbal contract with us that must be honored, Miss Gayle.”

“What contract?”

She typed something then looked at the monitor and said, "This one.”

I watched the screen go black, then I saw myself when I was thirteen, kneeling on the floor next to my bed with my eyes turned heavenward. Flo turned up the volume on the monitor, and I heard myself promising that I would do anything to keep my best friend Cassie from dying of leukemia.

“But that’s not fair,” I said. “Yeah, Cassie went into remission, but look what happened to her later. I shouldn’t have to keep a promise for that.”

“I’m sorry, but we don’t argue semantics here. You said you would do anything, and now it’s time to pay up.”

Oh, snap! Don't you hate when a promise comes back to bite you in the butt? Find out next week how our heroine handles her first week as Jada the Pervert Slayer. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Here's a little more from my YA paranormal thriller After Me. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Last week Jada discovered that she won't be going on to The Great Beyond just yet because there's an administrative hold on her Afterlife Account. She has to serve time as a Transdead Trustee in order to clear her account, and here's what she has to do.

(Photo from iZombie, The CW)

I took the papers she handed me and scanned the one on top, then I looked at her as if she were crazy and said, “I have to track down predators until I find the one who killed me? Are you kidding me?”

“Another pointless question, Miss Gayle.”

I threw the papers down on the counter and said, “Okay, then here’s a question for you. Why do I have to go back as some kind of psycho zombie chick as punishment for what that sicko did? He’s the one who should have to pay for it, not me!”

“Oh, he will, make no mistake about that. Your job is to bring him to justice sooner than he expects, possibly putting others like him out of commission along the way.” She pointed to a yellow box of text at the bottom of my assignment page and said, “And you’re not being punished, you’re paying an early termination fee. As are all Transdead Trustees, you’re being sent back to complete what was left unfinished in your life.”

Next Sunday Jada finds out exactly why she's obligated to clear her account. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

Sunday, May 15, 2016

I'm continuing with snippets from After Me, my YA paranormal thriller. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) When last we left Jada, our dead heroine, her Afterlife Advisor had just explained that the Afterlife Admissions department was reserved for people who had no sense of humor when they were alive. Flo was just about to check Jada's account in the LIFESCORE 6.2® program. We pick up as she discovers an unfortunate snafu. (Creative punctuation utilized to fit the sentence limit.)

“Okay, so what’s my assignment, scrubbing floors for being a slob while I was alive?”

Flo looked at her monitor and said, “No, I’m afraid you won’t be staying with us at all, because there’s an administrative hold on your account.”

“A hold—who put it there?”

One of her eyebrows went up and she said, “It’s an administrative hold, so do you really need an answer to that question?”

“Okay, fine," I said, "so what does it mean exactly?”

“It means, Miss Gayle, that in order to clear your account, you’ll have to serve time as a Transdead Trustee back on Earth.” She typed something else then said, “I’ll print out your instructions and answer any questions you may have before you’re sent back.”

“Sent back?” I sat up in my chair and leaned forward to say, “You mean I get to stay alive?”

“Not exactly, you'll be among the living and will appear to be one of them, but you won’t be alive, per se.”

Hmm...how exactly does that work? Next Sunday Jada finds out the first part of why she got the hold in the first place and why she's obligated to clear her account. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

Sunday, May 08, 2016

Happy Mother's Day! It's a gorgeous day here in the Heart of Dixie, I have three kids and three bonus kids (I like that better than step-kids!) so I feel truly blessed today even more than usual!

Thus far in After Me, my YA paranormal thriller, Jada has made it into the inner sanctum of the Afterlife Admissions Office and has been admonished by Tablet Guy not to touch anything while she awaits the arrival of her advisor, a no-nonsense woman named Florence. (You can catch up on previous snippets here.) This is what happens when Flo tells Jada that they need to take a look at her account.

“My account?” I almost laughed. “You mean I was supposed to be saving money to bribe my way in here or something?”

“No, it’s your Afterlife Account, and it’s what determines whether or not you’re admitted and where you’ll be assigned.”

“Oh, jeez.” I leaned back in my chair and looked at the ceiling. More angels. With harps. “If you’re gonna put me someplace like this, I’d rather just burn for eternity.”

“No, this department is reserved for people who had no sense of humor when they were alive,” she said. “For the most part, we’re staffed by IRS agents and high school English teachers.”

My apologies to all the English teachers out there. ;-) Next Sunday Jada finds out exactly where she's going and why. Can't wait? You can buy After Me here. And please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

Sunday, May 01, 2016

Welcome to the first snippet for May! Last week you saw Jada's reaction to finding out that she's dead. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) Hope you weren't worried about how traumatic that must have been for her. Thanks to the happy pills her mother put her on after finding her in a tub of bloody bath water with her wrist slit, Jada hasn't felt much of anything.

We pick up this week right after a white-clad guy with a tablet comes to collect Jada from the waiting area of Afterlife Admissions and takes her to the inner office filled with cubicles.

Tablet Guy stopped at an empty cubicle about halfway down the aisle and turned to look at me. “Have a seat here. Someone will be with you momentarily. Don’t touch anything.”

I gave him a salute. “Gotcha. No hacking into God’s e-mail while I wait.”

He frowned and took a silver stylus from his jacket pocket to enter something on the tablet. “Impudence doesn’t help your case any, young lady. If anyone in this department had a sense of humor, we wouldn’t be assigned to this office.”

Next week you'll get to meet Flo, Jada's Afterlife Advisor and keeper of the Golden Paperclips. Can't wait for more? You can buy After Me here. And please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!